


with you at your best (and promises kept)

by surrenderer



Series: let the flames begin [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chancellor Armitage Hux, Established Relationship, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Soft Kylux, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, The First Order Wins (Star Wars), Vacation, as soft as it gets when galactic domination is involved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:02:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23866459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/surrenderer/pseuds/surrenderer
Summary: Kylo’s lovely in the fading light, eyes sparkling with rare good humor as he watches Hux, because he doesn’t need to ask to know that Hux is as content as he is. “But you promised me the galaxy, Supreme Leader, not just a piece of it, as impressive as all of this is.”The Supreme Leader and his Chancellor are out of the office, together.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: let the flames begin [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1754311
Comments: 13
Kudos: 67





	with you at your best (and promises kept)

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Ты добился успеха (и сдержал обещания)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25323100) by [fandom SW IX - Duel of the Fates 2020 (Our_Own_Star_Wars)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Our_Own_Star_Wars/pseuds/fandom%20SW%20IX%20-%20Duel%20of%20the%20Fates%202020), [Lenuchka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lenuchka/pseuds/Lenuchka)



> There was a thread on Twitter where someone mentioned kylux having a vacation home in Naboo and this is where I ended up. 
> 
> Whether or not the battle on Crait happens is up to you, but the fic tracks closely with where we end up in the leaked Duel of the Fates script, where the First Order wins and Kylo is Supreme Leader while Hux rules as the Chancellor, and they do this together for 10 years.
> 
> Title from [New York (Saint in the City)](https://open.spotify.com/track/6k83jrwtbCe9eRuetuYy5C?si=PMls2dcdSh6wWleWMB0ELA) by The Academy Is..., because I always have to go back to my own roots.

As a child, Hux remembers spending time by the water. It rains on Arkanis more often than not, but all children learn their way around the water sooner or later, and he was no exception, bastard son he might’ve been. At the Academy, swimming, both as a skill and to build up stamina, was a required lesson for all cadets, and to fail was to drown. Hux refused to fail.

But the dreary and cold _lochs_ of Arkanis and the chlorinated pools of his cadet years are nothing compared to the view he has in front of him now. The clear blue water sparkles with the fading pink and golden lights of the sunset, the manicured gardens below him also shining gold. He rarely spends this much time planet-side unless necessary—Starkiller was possibly the longest stretch of time he’s ever spent on solid ground as an adult—but a man could easily get used to this.

“Enjoying the view?” a deep voice behind him asks. Hux turns around to enjoy the much more interesting view of the Supreme Leader exiting the ‘fresher and crossing the bedroom in his tapered training pants, bare-chested and scrubbed clean, just as Hux likes him. They have proper water showers here, not a sonic to be seen, and they’ve both taken full advantage of the facilities at every opportunity.

“Something like that,” Hux allows, letting his gaze linger on Kylo’s muscular chest and his prominent scars before he turns back towards the lake. He can feel Kylo’s eyes on him too, taking in his bare feet, the soft gleam of the black silk robe he’s wearing and where it ends at his calves, the glass of expensive brandy he’s sipping from. It’s been a very long time since either of them have had an opportunity to truly relax, and Hux would like to savor every moment of it. “It’s a shame to not enjoy what we have in front of us. Especially after all the trouble you went through to procure it.”

Kylo smirks, eyeing him again in a way that makes Hux simultaneously flush red and beckon him closer, and comes out to the balcony to stand next to him. They are alone now, far away from their meddling Supreme Council and the curious eyes of their troops, but Kylo still only places a hand on Hux’s lower back as they look out over the lake.

“It only took some… adjustment of the old records,” Kylo says after a moment, a slight bit more shiftily than would be expected if he’d gone through the standard bureaucratic procedures to obtain this property. No matter. Having a base on Naboo can only bolster the First Order’s standing on this planet of Imperial loyalists and cow the shrinking remnants of the New Republic and its pet traitors into submission. They’ll need a secure place to entertain diplomats and trade representatives from the Mid-Rim—and where better than the home planet of the last Emperor?

Despite having made all these arguments months ago, Hux certainly hadn’t expected Kylo to pull him aside after a Supreme Council meeting and present him with the deeds and a map to a relatively secluded estate tucked away in the lake country, but he should’ve known it would be something excessive. The Supreme Leader has always had a flair for the dramatic.

He’s not sure what exactly Kylo had to resort to in order to claim this place for their own, but he won’t press too hard. He’s too pleased with it. It’s taken quite some schedule-wrangling for them to be here together; cease-fire negotiations or military operations or Force-related missions will always take precedence over shore leave. And Hux himself has always found shore leave to be a tedious affair—he’s never had a desire to spend his extremely limited free time in some cantina or tourist trap, or, stars forbid, alone on Arkanis.

But now that they _are_ here, Hux finds that he’s much more content than he expected to be.

They stand together on the balcony in silence for a little longer; Kylo eventually gives in to the urge to touch him more, sliding into the empty space behind Hux and winding those strong arms around his waist as they admire the view in front of them. He can feel the heat of Kylo’s body, even through his robe, and it’s a welcome warmth and weight at his back as the sun dips below the mountains. Hux catches a whiff of his soap—a sharp citrus scent combined with a floral one that makes his nose itch slightly, but he finds that he still prefers it over the standard mint scent of the regulation toiletries on their ships.

Hux has never been one to indulge sentimentality. The closest he’s ever come to doing so was when Starkiller fired on the Hosnian system, but even he can admit that this house, the sunset, the lake and the mountains around them, are all glorious, especially as the light softens and eases into a gentle glow now that the sun has truly set. Kylo is, and always has been, made of softer materials, though; he sighs, all the tension leaving his body all at once, and then tips his head down to Hux’s shoulder to kiss it.

“Do you like your present?” Kylo asks, mouth pressed against his shoulder, and then closer to his neck until he’s nuzzling Hux’s jawline, nose bumping against his cheek like a particularly affectionate pet—but then again, it’s an apt comparison.

Hux nearly laughs. Of course Kylo still wants validation, after all these years. As if Hux hasn’t already done so much—given up so much—to stand at his side. “It’s acceptable,” he allows as he turns around to face Kylo, placing his near-empty glass on the small side table. He’s lovely in the fading light, eyes sparkling with rare good humor as he watches Hux, because he doesn’t need to _ask_ to know that Hux is as content as he is. “But you promised me the galaxy, Supreme Leader, not just a piece of it, as impressive as all of this is.” He drapes his arms over Kylo’s shoulders and winds his hands in his damp and dark hair, noting with some surprise and pleasure that there’s conditioning oil rubbed into it, to give it softness and shine. His fingers slide through the thick strands easily for once and he enjoys the sensation, even as Kylo leans in for a kiss that Hux bends away from, just far back enough to taunt him.

“And you shall have it, Chancellor,” Kylo promises, although he frowns to have his kiss denied. Hux strokes his cheek as consolation, the old scar rough under his fingertips. It fits the lines of Kylo’s handsome face well, as alarming as it was to find him nearly dead in the snow after receiving the cut—it lends him gravitas and a threatening air, both sorely needed if he wants to stay in power.

He once thought that Kylo was too temperamental to rule, always too ready to wear his heart on his sleeve for the galaxy to see. Now Hux knows better—or at least, he sees the strategy in it; he is still volatile, yes, but it can be turned to _their_ advantage. Every being in the galaxy will learn to fear Kylo Ren’s saber and the rage that simmers just underneath his skin, to accept him as their Supreme Leader and as an extension of the First Order’s will. Of Hux’s will.

Kylo continues as if he can’t hear the bloodthirsty thoughts running through Hux’s mind, resting his hands on his waist and stroking the red-edged sash that holds his robe closed. “It will all be ours soon enough. We’ll build the galaxy anew, just the two of us.”

The first time Kylo promised him the galaxy, they were young and daring and foolish, and they’d stood together on the bridge of the _Finalizer_ late in a shift cycle, and staring down at what would become the key to the First Order’s success.

_“Once Starkiller is complete, the New Republic will fall before the might of the First Order.”_

_“Even without the weapon, General, they’ll understand their folly in underestimating us. In underestimating you. The galaxy will be ours and I will bring you the skulls of every being that stands against us.”_

Hux scoffed, for the sake of appearances, and told Kylo to leave him out of his fanciful daydreams, but the dramatic promise had warmed him in his lonely bed when Kylo was off-ship.

“I told you to leave me out of your bloodthirsty fantasies, didn’t I?” he points out, though, because he can never make it easy for Kylo. It wouldn’t do for the Supreme Leader to get spoiled.

Kylo huffs impatiently, but he moves in for a kiss again, and Hux lets him this time. It’s a simple press of their lips, light and chaste, before Kylo pulls away. His hands find Hux’s, gentle in his grip for once.

Their eyes remain locked as Kylo brings his hands up to his mouth, brushing his lips against Hux’s knuckles. Hux curls his fingers around Kylo’s—they’ve survived this long because they have the same determination to see their enemies dead and forgotten.

Kylo’s gaze burns with the same intensity as they did the day they declared the war over and the galaxy theirs to rule. Later that day, General Armitage Hux would kneel at Supreme Leader Kylo Ren’s feet in his throne room and rise as the Chancellor of the First Order. Later that night, with all the formalities completed and treaties of surrender ratified, they would hole themselves up in Hux’s quarters and fuck until they couldn’t anymore, drunk on their victory and the promise of what was to come.

Hux remembers it all quite fondly.

Kylo still holds Hux’s hands against his lips; Hux can feel the shape of each word he speaks against his fingers. “You did, but I didn’t listen. Aren’t you glad for it?”

Surrounded by Kylo’s deadly resolve and the symbols of their empire, what else can Hux say? He doesn’t doubt Kylo’s loyalty to the cause, not anymore. Not if the continued success of the First Order also brings him Hux’s devotion. “Unfortunately, yes,” he says, but he tugs his hand out of Kylo’s to stroke his cheek affectionately, and bring him in for another kiss.

Against all odds, they stand here together, with enough power to crush their enemies without a second thought. And against all odds, Hux has this reckless, _dangerous_ man eating out of the palm of his hand.

Kylo’s right. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the galaxy falls into lockstep behind them.

**Author's Note:**

> Is it still considered a honeymoon if you don't get married, but you agree to rule the galaxy together for the rest of your lives? Asking for a friend.
> 
> Come say hi to me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/parttimewonders) and [Tumblr](https://part-timewonders.tumblr.com/)!


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